PrettyInScarlett

There's a fair degree of excitement in the Ottawa media about the 2012 Juno Awards , running this year from 26th March-1st April, culminating in the awards show at Scotiabank Place. As well as the official site, the Ottawa Citizen has a special webpage with all sorts of information. JUNOfest, running 30th-31st March, celebrates the breadth and depth of Canadian artists will a huge variety of small shows in venues across Ottawa. The full list of artists is available here , with regular updates via Twitter . Co-presenters Specrasonic have a more detailed 'who's playing where' list on their site ; many events also have specific Facebook pages. For classical music fans, the National Arts Centre is hosting an afternoon event on 30th March entitled ' Classical JUNOs in concert ': Christina Petrowska Quilico and New Orford String Quartet, amongst others, will perform in a 1 hour concert in the NAC foyer, free and unticketed. The other JUNOfest events are door-ticket...

Sadly the stage area at Irene's Pub isn't the most photo-friendly but here are a few snaps from the 11th March show:   Lacroix and ONMC after the performance of Angels   Annalee Patipatanakoon of Gryphon Trio Patricia O'Callaghan During the set from Broken Hearts and Madmen

Intrigued by the music on offer and enticed by cider on tap, M and I went to Irene's Pub on 11th March for Ottawa Chamberfest 's 'New Music, New Places' concert featuring Gryphon Trio and players from Ottawa New Music Creators . A different atmosphere compared to The PepTides show in February but there were enough attendees for an interesting, relaxed evening.  The programme was intended to showcase 7 contemporary compositions under the 'chamber music' umbrella, however Chamberfest artistic director Roman Borys made a last-minute adjustment to incorporate a short set based on Gryphon Trio's new recording Broken Hearts and Madmen , featuring Patricia O'Callaghan. A fellow concertgoer who attended the Broken Hearts and Madmen themed show at Wakefield's Black Sheep Inn on 10th March described a superb evening, which was to be echoed at Irene's.  The first set comprised an abridged 'New Music, New Places' programme. Of the pieces ...

After having read Steven Mazey 's column, a free Monday lunchtime on 27th February and I headed to the NAC Fourth Stage to see University of Ottawa music alumnus Bryan Wagorn . Mr Wagorn, who is currently New York-based (at the Metropolitan Opera), gave a recital as part of the 'UOttawa on the NAC Fourth Stage' series. On a sunny day it was slightly strange sitting in a very dark space, but for the 25 or so attendees that soon ceased to matter. Wagorn's programme consisted of: J. S Bach's Partita No. 1 in B flat Major, BWV 825 ; Ravel's Valses nobles et sentimentales ; and the suite Mana by 20th century French composer André Jolivet. After the measured-ness of the Bach Partita , the first of Ravel's Valses came as a sharp wake-up! Of the three suites performed the varied and fun Valses were to me most appealing. Jolivet's Mana , as introduced by Wagorn, is a suite of six pieces written for six copper wire dolls. These were all rather different fr...